TR
My wife is from Maine and her daughter lives in Boston, so we planned a trip to visit both. The day we booked everything, her daughter let her know that she was going to Thailand so we scrambled a bit to figure out what to do, but we weren't going to cancel the trip.
I had this vision of Maine being a sleepy little state where you didn't see a whole lot of people. I was wrong. We got into Boston about 4:00, rented a car and headed to Freeport, Maine. Bumper to bumper traffic on the highway the entire way. Damn, there were a lot of cars.
My wife's sister was house sitting for some people that had a very very nice house just outside of Freeport. It was beautiful. The weather cooperated with us the entire trip and just sitting in the cool fresh air was fantastic.
My wife wanted me to experience some Maine stuff so after some discussion with her sister, we decided on Bailey Island. I must say it was gorgeous.
Before we hit the island, we went through the shops at Freeport, the home of LL Bean. Lots of high end shops around and very touristy. OK, but not worth an extended stay. Then we headed to Yarmouth so we could see the house my wife grew up in. She was very excited to see the old neighborhood and bring back childhood memories.
Then it was off to Bailey Island. We stopped along the side of the road to take this picture. I think I might frame it , it was so good.
The place we stopped was just before this bridge. The entire bridge just sits on those boulders. I don't have a pic of the whole thing but I would guess it is about 2-3 hundred yards long. We found out later it is the only bridge of its kind.
While we were taking pictures, we spotted a ferry coming in. We hadn't really planned anything other than just looking around be we thought it might be fun to check out the ferry.
We drove to the ferry and saw that they had a noontime cruise. We got there about 10 minutes before noon so we figured it was karma. We found out that you buy the tickets once you get on the ferry so we waited in a very small line. As we got to the front, we learned that it was cash only. Yikes! We had enough for only one ticket and, after going in the restaurant next door we found out that there were not ATMs around. We confirmed with the guy working at the ferry that they didn't take credit cards so we started to walk away when he said "hey, don't worry about it. Come join us. The more the merrier.". Where in the hell does that happen? We ended up paying them for one ticket and they were perfectly happy to have us there.
My wife has most of the pics from the cruise. It wound around a bunch of islands and took about an hour and a half. Some of the islands had homes, some didn't. A few of the islands were owned by just one person and would have a mansion on it. The captain had all kinds of stories about the history and it was fascinating. Its hard to put into words how beautiful the area was. Just a fantastic outing.
When we got back we decided to eat lunch at the restaurant there. I wanted to have some genuine Maine cuisine so I ordered (as did my wife) a lobster roll. Which is just a sandwich with bits of lobster in it. It was delicious. I'm not sure if we just didn't notice a price or if it said market price or what but we just ordered them without checking out how much it would be. I was shocked when I got the bill for lunch - $104!!!!!. Turns out the lobster rolls were $37 each. Holey Moley!. For the rest of the trip anything we looked at to buy we compared to a lobster roll. "Cheaper than a lobster rolll? We'll take it!".
The next day we headed back to Boston. We decided to go along route 1 through some of the coastal towns. Aye aye aye. Unbelievable traffic. Stop and go the entire way. Each town came with a traffic jam. We planned to eat at a fairly well known place in Kittery called Bob's Clam Hut. It was packed. They advertise great food fast. The food was OK, but certainly not fast. About 45 minutes.
From there we were able to get back on the highway and back to Boston. Not much to report other than the gps that came with the rental car sucked. It got us lost around the airport multiple times. But we eventually got there.
We stayed in the Bostonian - right next to Faneuil Hall. The area was very nice - lots of shops and restaurants near the water. By the time we got to our room we were pretty tired and hungry and hit the first restaurant we saw - McCormick and Schmit (or something like that). Pretty sucky chain restaurant but we didn't have the energy to find anything else. We ordered a bottle of red wine and as I was drinking it, I started to not feel so good. I knew I needed food but the service was less than ideal and it took another half hour before we actually ate anything. By then I was feeling pretty bad. We got back to the hotel and I thought I could lie down and it would pass. It didn't. First time I've puked in at least 10 years. Ugh. But once I did I was fine and felt fine the rest of the trip.
The next day was devoted to walking around and seeing what we could in the general area. Our first stop was the aquarium. We love aquariums and this one did not let us down. It was fantastic. They have a huge circular tank in the middle of it that is 3 stories tall. We could have sat and watched the fish swim around in it for days. We were able to see a seal training session which was cool. We ended up staying in there almost 2 hours. Loved it.
It was lunch time by then and we passed some cruises next to the restaurant we ended up eating at. We booked a short one and got on. We enjoyed it quite a bit as well. Went by the USS constitution which is pretty cool. Lots of other local sites and heard a bunch of history trivia. Quite enjoyable.
Then we decided to walk the Freedom Trail. It winds around the area by places like where the Boston Massacre was and where Paul Revere did some stuff. The trail itself is just some red bricks that you follow around. It is advertised as only a few miles, but it seemed longer. At the far end of the trail is this Bunker Hill monument.
We were already pretty tired by the time we got there. There were people sitting around it on the grass. I wasn't quite sure why but I found out. We walked into the adjacent building and the lady working there said we could walk up to the top if we wanted. Without thinking I decided to go for it. It kicked my butt. My wife followed along and her butt was kicked as well. But we made it. The stairs went around in a circle and it was pretty tight and steep. Then you get to the top and its just this little tiny room which was packed with people. Then you go back down which was a bit easier but hard in a different way. By the time we got down we just wanted to lie down in the grassy area with the other people we saw earlier (which were either people that had to rest from the climb or the smart ones that didn't try to climb).
We needed water. There was some guy selling snow cones near the monument and he had water too. He said "climbed the tower, eh?". He could tell. We chatted with him a bit and it turned out he lived in Boston during the summer but lived in St. Pete - not that far from us, in the winter. Small world.
We still had quite a hike back and when we got close to the hotel we stopped in a little pub for a beer. Best tasting beer I've had in a while. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and out for a dinner.
We were advised to go to the North End to eat. My wife's father highly recommended a place that had been there for decades, but had apparently finally closed shop. We got another recommendation for another place which was packed and only took reservations. Our third recommendation was a place called Al Dente. It was phenomenal. If you ever go I would highly recommend it. We couldn't finish our meals there was so much food.
We had gone through the North End earlier on our Freedom Trail walk and thought about getting a world famous cannoli. There is a place called Mike's which is apparently really famous and another called Modern. Both had lines out the door so we decided not to wait. But, after our dinner we decided to try again. Mike's was still packed but there weren't too many people in Modern so we went in there. The cash only rule bit us again. Who in the hell has a bakery this popular and doesn't take credit cards? Reeediculous. But we wanted a cannoli so we searched for an ATM machine and got enough to buy some cannolis. Of course, the line went out the door when we got back but **** it - we wanted a cannoli. I have to say it was worth the wait. OMG it was delicious.
We had an early flight so we hit the sack as soon as we finished our cannolis.
All in all a quite enjoyable trip. I would go there again. But, as always, it is good to be home.